What Should You Read Next? Here Are the Best Reviewed Books of the Week

Namwali Serpell’s On Morrison, Mohammed Hanif’s Rebel English Academy, and Mark Haddon’s Leaving Home all feature among the best reviewed books of the week.

Brought to you by Book Marks, Lit Hub’s home for book reviews.

*

Fiction

1. So Old, So Young by Grant Ginder
(Gallery/Scout Press)

3 Rave • 3 Positive

“Ginder focuses his gaze on friends, not family, and offsets his trademark humor with pathos. The bittersweet mood of the proceedings renders his main characters and their actions more believable … Ginder hits far more often than he misses, routinely impressing with sharp dialogue, bold set-pieces, and compelling portrayals of enduring or foundering friendships. The book’s final section, comprising a reunion at a funeral, could have been mawkish but instead is moving … A riveting tale.

–Malcolm Forbes (The Boston Globe)

2. Rebel English Academy by Mohammed Hanif
(Grove Press)

4 Rave • 1 Positive

“Hanif’s prickly new novel confirms his standing as one of south Asia’s most unnervingly funny and subversive voices … Smart, taut and electrifying, the tale fuses slapstick and the fun of a cat-and-mouse thriller with the serious reckoning work of a state-of-the-nation novel.”

–Yagnishsing Dawoor (The Guardian)

3. Evil Genius by Claire Oshetsky
(Ecco)

4 Rave
Read an excerpt from Evil Genius here

“Navigating Evil Genius is like carrying a fully loaded tray of martinis through a bouncy castle planted in quicksand … Oshetsky twists expectations in a manner uniquely their own. They adroitly draw upon literary traditions without being bound by them, crafting a singular and captivating blend of noir and surrealism.”

–Thane Tierney (BookPage)

**

Nonfiction

1. On Morrison by Namwali Serpell
(Hogarth)

8 Rave
Read an interview with Namwali Serpell here

“Graceful, exhilarating … Serpell deserves consideration for a major prize. Mostly she deserves our gratitude and admiration: On Morrison gives us, in precise yet supple prose, a close reading in action and an exemplar of literary criticism (distinct from book criticism, a journalistic form). This book will spur you to pore overt the master’s achievements.”

–Hamilton Cain (On the Seawall)

2. A Hymn to Life by Gisèle Pelicot
(Penguin Press)

7 Rave • 1 Positive

“Unique … Alive with the kind of detail that wouldn’t look out of place in a good novel, but it’s the expression it gives to something glimpsed at during the trial that makes it so singular; namely, the transformation of Gisèle Pelicot from a self-avowedly ordinary woman, ‘content with my little life’, into a figure of astonishing power.”

–Emma Brockes (The Guardian)

3. Leaving Home: A Memoir in Full Colour by Mark Haddon
(Doubleday)

5 Rave • 3 Positive • 1 Mixed

“Haddon…writes with uncanny humor and endearing candor as he leapfrogs from childhood incidents to more recent struggles and discoveries … As he reflects on his hard-tested loyalty to his parents and his love for his sister, wife, and children, Haddon is pithily hilarious, deeply insightful, and very moving.”

–Donna Seaman (Booklist)